Encore! Park Hill upsets Liberty, hopes to continue success against Truman

How do you follow up one of the biggest wins in recent memory?

Well, for the Park Hill football team, the answer to that question is taking care of business on the road this Friday.

After upsetting Liberty last Friday night by a score of 20-11, Park Hill will travel to take on the Truman Patriots this week in their conference season opener. The Patriots (1-3) committed 11 penalties for 100 yards and fumbled at the goal line in a loss to Park Hill South last week 12-0. Last year the Trojans beat the Patriots by a score of 52-0.

Many were curious what the Trojans would do differently than normal to stop the top-ranked Liberty Blue Jays’ quick striking option offense and multiple defensive looks. The answer: nothing at all. Park Hill did what they do best, play smash mouth football.
“They’re a good ball club, really good team,” Coach Greg Reynolds said. “Nobody thought we could win.”

Park Hill scored first when Neal Sampson kicked a 36-yard field goal at the 5:54 mark in the first quarter. Liberty put together their only scoring drive of the game in the second quarter by traveling 69 yards in 3:39 completed when Liberty quarterback Kevin VanEgdom took the ball in for a 5 yard touchdown run.
The favor was returned on the next drive when the Trojan’s Sean Gorman took a handoff into the end zone. Gorman, at 6’0” and 190 pounds, finished with 81 yards rushing and has gained a reputation for his blocking and ability to drag defenders. Park Hill added a Sampson field goal as time expired in the first half to put the Trojans up 13-7.
Liberty WR Marcus Lucas, a highly touted college prospect, didn’t hurt the Trojans like he did last year. While there were several deep threats in the second half, Park Hill cornerbacks De’Rion Rambo and Nick Hughes provided quality coverage despite being sometimes outsized.

The Trojans struck the final offensive blow early in the third quarter. A 15-yard touchdown run by Trace Norfleet completed an eight play, 53-yard march to the end zone making the score 20-7. Liberty was unable to muster much offense in a second half featuring a number of penalties and dropped passes for the Jays. Even after Liberty recovered a Park Hill fumble, they turned the ball over on the next play when linebacker Jordan Wang recovered a fumbled exchange.
Trojan faithful erupted in the fourth quarter when linebacker De’Aris Flint came screaming off the edge to sack VanEgdom for a loss of 9 yards with just under ten minutes to play while Liberty continued to try to ignite a passing game. Next, it was defensive end Bryan Dale’s turn when he broke through the line for a sack and loss of 11 yards just under the five minute mark. Working the clock, the Trojans gave up a pair of safeties in the closing minutes to prevent Liberty from mounting any kind of comeback. When the clock finally reached zero, the Trojans rejoiced over their 20-11 victory.
It wasn’t the shootout fans had seen the previous week against Columbia Hickman, but the offense put together several time consuming scoring drives throughout the game to take any kind of momentum from Liberty. Then, there was the defense. In a year where they have allowed some big plays, but come back with even bigger plays, it was only the latter last Friday. The defense’s ability to contain the potentially explosive Liberty offense made all the difference.

Asked where the victory ranked in recent years Reynolds responded, “I think it ranks up there. They’re a class above us and it’s one of those games where you have to prove yourself.”

Panthers, Trojans peaking a right time

Last week at Tiffany Greens Golf Course was a chance to catch up with Park Hill and Park Hill South’s girls golf teams as they competed against each other in match play. It was the second time in a week the two teams faced each other, the first coming the previous Friday when Park Hill won by six strokes at The National. This time the Panthers were able to win the match by a margin of twenty strokes with medalist Stephanie Frailey shooting a 44.

Both coaches were happy with their teams’ progress so far. As the season continues their goal is to lower individual and team scores each time they play.

“We’ve dropped from a 454 to 424,” Park Hill South coach Larry Torgerson said of his team’s improvement from the beginning of the season.

“Sam (Brunker) has improved by 20 strokes,” Park Hill coach Tari Garner said.
With both teams improving, it will come down to two pivotal days, September 28th for the conference tournament at Paradise Point in Smithville and October 5th for the district tournament held at Liberty Hills in Liberty. Unlike many high school sports where standings develop over a season, golf championships are determined in single day tournaments. So while improving is important for teams, it’s all about playing your best golf at the right time.

“It’s whoever shows up to play, but we’ve got a great chance,” Garner said.

The Trojans have had strong play from Anna Kloeppel, Erica Crainshaw, Stephanie Atkinson, and Sam Brunker to start the season. This included an 8th place finish out of a field of 23 last week at Drumm Farm. Before their lose to South, they had yet to lose in match play. Garner is confident in her team’s ability and hopes it pays off in upcoming tournaments.

“We’ve got four players that can all shoot in the 90’s, being consistent and having it all on the same day will be big,” Garner said.

South’s Torgerson feels his team is coming along well. His top golfers include Sarah Shelton, Lindsey Gile, Stephanie Frailey, Kelly Jefferies, and Hillary Schmitz. Gile has been able to continue through a painful torn labrum in her shoulder to play for the Panthers. Last week South competed in the Sedalia Invitational, the course where the state championship tournament is played. Some of the best teams in the state were there to compete in what could be thought of as a practice round. Against the top competition, South finished 11th out of 19 teams. The top 15 scores received medals with scores all under 81. Frailey finished with a round of 88.
“We did really well at Sedalia,” Torgerson said. “There were some excellent teams down there.”

Between now and the quickly approaching conference tournament South will compete in the Notre Dame DeSion Tournament along with a match with Liberty. Park Hill will play matches against Oak Park, North Kansas City, and Winnetonka.

“They’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing, improving,” Garner said.

“We’re getting lower scores, getting better as the years goes on,” Torgerson said. “That’s the key.”

Park Hill beats Columbia Hickman, faces talented Liberty team

Liberty, at 3-0, will provide a tough test for the Park Hill Trojans (2-1) this Friday before going into conference play next week. Liberty is currently ranked as one of the top teams in the state with high expectations. Last year, Liberty bested Park Hill 38-14. The Trojan defense will have to make the difference by containing a Liberty offense that includes several different looks and strengths.

“We watched some tape of them (Liberty) in our preparation for Hickman,” head coad Greg Reynolds said. “The combinations they run with the option will put some pressure on our defense.”

Park Hill comes off a win last week against Columbia Hickman where they displayed their ability to convert turnovers into points. This led the Trojans to a 31-28 victory in their home opener.

The Trojans started the first drive from their 20-yard line. On the first play, Josh Eatman took the handoff 50-yards to the Hickman 30-yard line before Sean Gorman next went in for a 30-yard touchdown. Hickman struck back with a 3:07 66-yard drive capped off with a 2-yard touchdown run by QB Matt Herman. Other than a Herman pass being intercepted by Park Hill counterpart QB/DB Corey Sterling in the second quarter, both teams exchanged drives and missed field goal attempts before going into halftime with a tied score of 7-7.

A huge sack on fourth down by Park Hill defensive end Bryan Dale gave the Trojans the ball and with 6:45 left in the 3rd quarter Josh Eatman took a handoff to the house for a 66-yard touchdown run. Eatman finished with 18 carries for 184 yards and 2 touchdowns.

“After last week, he was disappointed in not getting as many carries,” Reynolds said. “He had a great week of practice, came out and really showed what he can do.”

Hickman responded again on the next drive with a deep Herman pass to Wesley Leftwich for a 55-yard touchdown pass. After a stalled drive and Park Hill punt, Herman took a 2nd and 3 snap looking to pass, but Park Hill LB De’Aris Flint stripped the ball from him allowing DE Steven Clark to recover for the Trojans. Eatman streaked through the Kewpie defense on the first play for a 17-yard touchdown run. Herman threw a second consecutive interception on the next drive when LB Daniel Jessen snagged his pass out of the air.

Although Hickman QB Herman had four interceptions on the night, his ability to hide the ball hurt the Trojans, especially with 9:44 in the fourth quarter when his play action pass hit Dominic Price for a 60-yard touchdown pass. The Kewpies used that momentum to stop the Trojans’ next drive and get the ball back. Using it to their advantage, they struck with 4:13 left in the game when Josh Williams ran for an 11-yard touchdown run. The point-after put Hickman up 28-21.

On the Trojans’ next drive, Adrien Esaw stepped up on 4th and 3 with a 41-yard reception from Sterling. Three plays later it was Sterling sneaking the ball in for the 1-yard touchdown to tie the score 28-28 with 2:02 to play.

Hickman began driving before Herman threw a 2nd and 10 pass, which was intercepted by De’Rion Rambo who returned it to the Hickman 24-yard line with 47 seconds left. After several shots at the end zone, Park Hill called their final timeout allowing Neal Sampson to kick the game winning field goal with 13 seconds remaining.

“We got the ball to our offense when we needed to,” Reynolds said. “Some kids made mistakes early, but came back to make big plays late in the game.”

The close win gives the Trojans some confidence as they prepare for Liberty, but Reynolds looks to it as an opportunity to get better before conference and districts start.

“We’ve got to get better and we tell our guys that the first four weeks are about getting better and ready because week 5 starts conference,” Reynolds said.

Park Hill beats Park Hill South in 2OT thriller

Who said soccer wasn’t a contact sport? It certainly was last week as Park Hill took on Park Hill South with a packed Park Hill District Stadium on hand. With half the stands peppered purple and the other red, fans were able to see what has turned into one of top soccer rivalries in the area.
An evenly balanced game throughout the first half included several opportunities for both teams, but quality saves by goalkeepers Shane VanHooser of Park Hill and Kurt Ehlers of Park Hill South kept the score 0-0 going into halftime.

“We had a lot of opportunities one on one with their goalkeeper,” said South coach Joe Toigo. “A lot of their shots came from a distance.”
No love was lost in the second half. Both teams received multiple yellow cards after small pushing matches occurred at various points. Park Hill coach Dustin Sollars talked about how very little it matters which team is better from year to year. A very successful team can come in and it’s always close no matter what.

“Throw everything out the window for Park Hill and Park Hill South, and hope you can make it through with as few cards and little blood as possible,” Sollars said.
South started off the second half aggressively, this led to Michael Combs receiving a ricocheted ball off the post and putting it in for a goal at the thirty-seven minute mark. The Panthers controlled the ball for the majority of the second half, but the Trojans added some late theatrics to the game when David Zdvorak used a free kick to assist Quenton Noble with a score with three minutes to play. Regulation ended with a score of 1-1.
Both teams came up empty in two overtime periods, which led to a series of penalty kicks to decide the match. An enthusiastic crowd was on their feet as each kick resulted in one half of the stadium erupting in enthusiasm while the other groaned. After a South miss on the fourth round of five penalty kicks, Park Hill’s Ray Lee scored what would be the game winner. VanHooser saved the day, as the public address announcer said so many times throughout the night, when he blocked Cody Mortensen’s kick from going into the goal to give the Trojans a 2-1 victory via 4-3 in penalty kicks. Trojan faithful went crazy as the players celebrated on the field, and then came to thank their loyal fans for enduring the two and a half hour match.
“I thought we played well, but lost our composure at the end,” Toigo said. “No matter if we win or lose, we’re always looking for things to work on.”

After last week’s game, both Park Hill and Park Hill South come into this week with records of 3-3. Both teams face strong schedules throughout the season, including against each other, which will allow them to face top competition between conferences games leading into district play.

For Park Hill, the game against South was their third game in three days and it could have been an easy let-down game, but the adrenaline of playing their rival gave them an extra boost.

“I think that’s one of the reasons our guys were able to step up and play tonight,” Sollars said.

Park Hill loses nail-biter, looks to home opener

Going into last Friday’s game against Blue Springs South the Park Hill Trojans knew they would be tested. But after a game that went down to the wire last year, they probably didn’t expect some of the same late game excitement would happen again this year. Although the Trojans weren’t able to muster a comeback in the fourth quarter before falling 21-14, the idea that they could compete against the best was reinforced for a talented team that has tremendous potential.

“Once our kids get used to some of the things we’re trying to do we’re going to be more successful,” coach Greg Reynolds said. “They did that tonight.”
Park Hill looks to Columbia Hickman this Friday in their home opener. Last year the Trojans traveled to Columbia and beat the Kewpies 48-15. Hickman comes into the game 1-1, including a week one lose to Liberty 42-6. They’re averaging 133 yards passing and 92 rushing. Look for Park Hill to use this as a week to focus on fundamentals as a tune up for what will be a difficult test against Liberty in week four.

By the numbers, last Friday’s game was close in almost every category. The one exception, to the dismay of the Trojans, was field position. Park Hill’s average starting field position was around their own 16-yard line while BSS’s average was around their own 38-yard line. Both teams seemed to adopt the other’s offense. The Jaguars went with a steady run game to attack the Trojans while Park Hill looked to utilize their passing game.

“They kind of had a game plan more like we usually have, and we had more of a game plan they would have,” Reynolds said. The game started slow with both teams exchanging drives in the first quarter. With 1:32 left in the first quarter, Blue Springs South started a drive from their 43-yard line and went on to travel 57-yards in 3:52 finished by a 2-yard touchdown run by running back A.J. Mack. Park Hill then exchanged three and out drives with the Jaguars again before receiving a punt and starting a drive from the 9-yard line. Four minutes twenty-three seconds and 91-yards later, fullback Sean Gorman took a 7-yard quick trap into the end zone to tie the score at 7-7 going into halftime. The Jaguars received the second half kickoff and started at their 43-yard line. Calvin Jacobson, who completed 7 of 20 for 93 yards passing on the night, led the Jaguars on a 4:07 drive ending with an athletic over the shoulder catch by receiver Logan Moon for a 9-yard touchdown. Park Hill’s lone third quarter drive stalled deep in Jaguar territory at the 17-yard line. With 10:15 in the fourth quarter the Jaguars got the ball at their 46-yard line and went 54 yards in three plays highlighted by a 31-yard run and 23-yard touchdown run by Cameron Davis.
With the ball, down 21-7, the Trojans’ sideline erupted after a 49-yard pass from Corey Sterling to Trace Norfleet landed Park Hill at the South 15-yard line. Two plays later Sean Gorman barreled up the middle for a 9-yard touchdown run with 2:28 left to play. After two failed onside kicks, all the Jaguars had to do was run down the clock to ensure their victory. But after a quick timeout by Park Hill, on 2nd and 13 from the South 40, the Park Hill defense stripped the ball causing a fumble recovered by the Trojans. On 3rd and 15 with under two minutes to play, Park Hill’s Corey Sterling passed to Esaw Adrien for the first down, but as Adrien turned to go up field a Jaguar defender jarred the ball loose to allow South to recover the fumble and run out the clock.
“We’re in week two of the season and the fifth week of practice,” said Reynolds of the early season. “We’re trying to figure out our kids and what they can do, that’s what it’s all about.”

Satisfied? No Way

Earlier last week, Park Hill’s softball team defeated Oak Park for the first time in over a decade. With a good start to the conference season, Park Hill isn’t so much looking to build on last season, but to do much better.

“I would not be happy with just surpassing last year’s record,” Sullinger said. “This year we have higher goals, we should be a lot better than that.”

Up to this point, ace pitcher Kati Snodgrass, who hasn’t walked a better all season, and catcher Michele Rupard , have led a solid Trojan defense so far this season. Bethany Sullinger and Kelsey Samenus have also contributed early. As the season goes on, the difference maker for the Trojans could be their offense. Up to this point, it has come and gone from game to game. Through eight games, offensive leaders include Rupard, Samenus, Kylie Ball, and Kayla Reynolds. A quality hitting performance from the Trojans could mean trouble for their opponents.

At 4-4, Sullinger thinks they should have a better record, but his main concern is rounding out the team as a whole.

“It’s about trying to find that unity,” Sullinger said. “Traditionally, we’re a team that will get better as the season goes on.”

Senior Kati Snodgrass, who her coach describes as a work horse, will pitch in a majority of her team’s games. After five starts, she is 3-1 with a 1.20 earned run average and 27 strikeouts. Based on how much she has improved and matured, Sullinger hopes to use her as much as possible this season. When Snodgrass isn’t pitching, the Trojans have looked to freshman Makenzi Porter, who has shown her ability to step up at the varsity level.

As quick as the high school softball season is, if the Trojans can put together quality pitching performances with a consistent offensive attack at the right time, they could make a run in the district tournament.

Week 2 won't be as easy as Trojans' opener

After soundly defeating the North Kansas City Hornets last week 30-0, the Park Hill Trojans will face off this Friday against last year’s Class 6 state runners-up, Blue Springs South. The Jaguars come into Friday’s game with a record of 0-1 after a 35-13 loss to Rockhurst in the opening week.

The Trojans and Jaguars are no strangers. In an exciting finish last year, the Jaguars barely defeated the Trojans 35-34 in overtime after the Trojans were denied in their attempt for a two-point conversion, which would have won the game. They also met in Jamboree action two weeks ago.

As an opponent in one of the top match-ups in the metro this week, Blue Springs South will have a balanced passing game featuring quarterback Calvin Jacobson looking for standout wide receivers Dominique Wright and Logan Moon. The Trojans will look to their defense once again as a source of strength with another strong pass rush from the defensive front.
Trojan fans received the best gift a team can give to kick off the season last Friday. De’Rion Rambo returned the opening kickoff back for a 97-yard touchdown. After a three-and-out series for the NKC Hornets, the Trojans started their second offensive drive from midfield at the 50-yard line.
Park Hill then went on a seven-play, 50-yard drive, concluded with a 22-yard touchdown run from Sean Gorman on a fullback trap. To start off the second quarter, Park Hill went 58 yards in six plays, capped off with a six-yard touchdown run by Trace Norfleet. The point after attempt was no good.
“Trace has another gear of speed that a lot of guys don’t have,” head coach Greg Reynolds said. “Josh (Eatman) is more elusive so it’s a good one-two punch, but it didn’t seem like we had the ball enough to get them into a rhythm.”

With Park Hill up 20-0 at this point, the Trojans had yet to allow a first down. This was in large part because of the continuous pressure from the defense, which included sacks by defensive end Bryan Dale and linebackers Daniel Jessen and John Eblen. The Trojans added on a 39-yard field goal at the end the first half to make it 23-0.

Park Hill struck quickly with 8:49 left in the third quarter. After a series of incomplete passes, quarterback Corey Sterling hooked up with receiver De’Rion Rambo for a 31-yard touchdown pass putting the Trojans up 30-0.

“We knew we were going to make them earn everything they got, but we weren’t as consistent as we need to be to be really good,” Reynolds said of the importance to improve.

PHS Soccer Kicks Off Season at Community America Ballpark

Not every high school soccer player gets to play a game on the same surface as those that compete daily as professionals, but the Park Hill South Panthers did last Saturday in their season opener against St. Louis soccer powerhouse, the Vianney Griffins. The match took place prior to the professional soccer match between the Real Salt Lake and Kansas City Wizards at Community America Ballpark. With player introductions, video replay, and a large stadium atmosphere, the Panthers got to see and feel the way it is for professionals to play the game. Metro Sports was on the scene along with local state rep. Jason Grill, who participated in the opening coin toss.
“It was exciting,” junior Danny Jones said. “They tried to make it as close to a professional setting as possible.”

As for the game, the Panthers started off on the defensive with Vianney controlling the ball in Panther territory for a majority of the first half. The Panther defense was able to prevent several shots from going in early. With 25 minutes left in the first half, Vianney midfielder Andy Harr scored the first goal of the game putting the Griffins up 1-0. South was able to put together a few good attacks on the goal, but failed to score. Then, Vianney struck again at the 15 minute mark when midfielder Steve Mcanany set up Harr for another score. South went into halftime down 2-0. In the second half, the Panthers switched from a defensive 4-4-2 alignment to a 3-4-3 look that balanced out the field a little more. This led to South holding offensive possession more throughout the second half. Unfortunately, more players up front meant less in back defending, which allowed Vianney to capitalize on with several break away goals. A steady pace of scores from the Griffins throughout the second half eventually tallied the score at 8-0 when the final whistle was blown.

South head coach Joe Toigo believed the game was well in reach at halftime because of some early opportunities the Panthers had on the offensive end including two corner kicks. He also emphasized that this is the reason why they schedule high-quality teams.

“You have to figure out what your team can do against varsity competition,” Toigo said. “We found out some things that we do well and have to do more often.”

“We can attack one on one in the flank if we get the ball there and we can be effective on free kicks,” Toigo said of some strength he saw from the first game.
The loss will count in the record book, but won’t affect conference or district standings. One way to gauge the Panthers’ improvement through the season will be to track their play against other high quality opponents including defending state champions Rockhurst, St. Thomas Aquinas, and conference/district rival Park Hill.

Jones looked ahead by saying, “At this point, the more we get together as a team, the better we’ll be.”